Big wet drenches Darling Downs coalmines

Heavy rain and flooding has moved south from Queensland’s Bowen Basin coal region and up to 400 millimetres of rain had been recorded in some parts of southern Queensland over the past 72 hours, said Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Geoff Doueal.

Severe wet weather and flooding in the Darling Downs region, about 100 kilometres from the port of Brisbane, has worsened over the past week, threatening coal shipments from the region.

Mr Doueal forecast more heavy rain and flooding as the La Nina weather system and unusually warm sea temperatures contribute to higher rainfall.

“Queensland is not out of the woods – there is a long time to go in the wet season," he said.

“We could have cyclones and all sorts of things happening."

Coal producers operating in the Darling Downs region include
New Hope Corp
and Peabody Energy Australia.

An area in Queensland the size of France and Germany was already under water, cutting the state’s coal shipments by 73 per cent, said Macquarie analysts.

The system moving over Darling Downs on Monday is expected to ease over the next week. But Queensland’s wet season occurs between December and March, with bursts of monsoon activity every 30 to 40 days on average.

Related Quotes

Company Profile

Mr Doueal said: “The system causing the weather is forecast to move southwest and weaken, so we should see heavy rainfall [in the Darling Downs region] ease of the next couple of days with some sunny patches of the weather."